Despaigne hangs tough against Bumgarner

SAN FRANCISCO -- The way Madison Bumgarner was throwing for the Giants on Tuesday night, the Padres were likely going to need a Herculean effort from their starting pitcher, Odrisamer Despaigne, just to keep pace.

SAN FRANCISCO -- The way Madison Bumgarner was throwing for the Giants on Tuesday night, the Padres were likely going to need a Herculean effort from their starting pitcher, Odrisamer Despaigne, just to keep pace.

Despaigne couldn't quite match Bumgarner, though he managed to keep his team in the game -- which proved important later as the Padres rallied for a 3-2 victory in 11 innings.

Exactly one year to the day after his Major League debut -- in this ballpark, against these Giants -- Despaigne opened his start with four shutout innings before allowing two runs in the fifth. On a night when Bumgarner struck out 14 in 7 1/3 innings, Despaigne kept the Padres close.

"I think a lot of people did a lot of good things today. For [Despaigne] to keep us in the ballgame -- I know things weren't happening for us offensively -- he's pitching like that, there's no panic," said Padres outfielder Will Venable.

For Despaigne, the two runs doubled the number of earned runs he had allowed in his previous 28 2/3 innings against the Giants dating back to last season, one that started with a debut of seven scoreless innings in a victory over San Francisco at AT&T Park.

Despaigne held the Giants scoreless until the fifth inning and looked like he might escape the inning without any harm but Gregor Blanco knocked in a run from third base with a swinging bunt, as Despaigne couldn't get a grip on the ball. Joe Panik followed with an RBI double.

Despaigne finished the inning but with 93 pitches to that point, the Padres went to the bullpen in the sixth inning. His bullpen picked him up with six scoreless innings.

"The pitching was great all night," interim manager Pat Murphy said.

For his short career, Despaigne has now allowed three earned runs in 29 2/3 innings vs. the Giants for a 0.91 ERA.